Knives out for ‘overweight’ former First Lady Hillary Clinton as she mulls running for the White House

Author claims ‘very tired’ US Secretary of State plans to take time out to ‘get back into shape’

Mrs Clinton will run for the White House with former President husband Bill in 2016 ‘if her health holds out’, says Ed Klein

She is rumoured to be considering running for US President in 2016.

And the knives are already out for US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, with critics remarking that she looks ‘overweight’ and ‘very tired’.

A controversial author has claimed Mrs Clinton, 64, is planning to take time off to ‘get back into shape’.

But Ed Klein says she will only be able to make a White House bid ‘if her health holds out’ and ‘that’s a big if,of course’.

Rather than focusing on Mrs Clinton’s work in the key role of US Secretary of State, Mr Klein – the man behind books including The Truth About Hillary, which delved into her private life – commented on her physical appearance.

In an interview on America’s Fox News Radio, the former New York Times magazine editor said: ‘At this very moment that we’re speaking right now… [the Clintons] are already thinking seriously about running in 2016.

‘She’ll be 69 years old. And as you know — and I don’t want to sound anti-feminist here — but she’s not looking good these days. She’s looking overweight, and she’s looking very tired.’

Mr Klein added: ‘And if her health holds out – that’s a big if, of course – if her health holds out, there’s no question in my mind she and Bill – two for the price of one – will run in 2016.’

In May, photos taken of the former First Lady during visits to Bangladesh and India, showed the Secretary of State looking tired and withdrawn – far from the well-coiffed image she has maintained over the past two decades in politics.

The images – in which she was make-up free, casually dressed and wearing glasses – came as she claimed she had no desire to make another bid for the White House because she wanted a rest.

In January, she announced that she was ready to step off the ‘high wire’ of US politics altogether.

‘I have made it clear that I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur’ if Obama is re-elected, she told a town hall meeting.

‘But I think after 20 years, and it will be 20 years, of being on the high wire of American politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am.’

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Mrs Clinton is of course not the first high-profile female politician to have attracted comments about her appearance.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy commented loudly and uncharitably on the quantity of cheese Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel consumed at a dinner, while Sarah Palin, the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, was criticised for her £100,000 designer wardrobe.